


A Double Shot of Something Good

by Austennerdita2533



Series: Sometimes Your Touch Feels Like Teeth: Bloodied By Intimacy [1]
Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-14 00:49:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14759450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Austennerdita2533/pseuds/Austennerdita2533
Summary: With Hope and Roman on the run somewhere, and Klaus and Caroline allied together in hot pursuit, there's coffee, banter, the rustling of old feelings, and an overnight pit stop along the way. (TO 5x06 AU)





	1. A Double Shot of Something Good

**Author's Note:**

> The 5x06 still flooded me with feels and inspiration, what can I say? Enjoy, lovelies.
> 
> xx Ashlee Bree

"Okay, so which one do you want first?" Caroline said as she approached her frenetically pacing companion by the car. Her tone was as cheerful as the sun above them yet hesitant enough that she gnawed on her bottom lip. "The good news, or the bad news?"

"By all means, love, tell me something pleasant. I'm longing for good tidings of any sort." After crunching some parking lot gravel beneath his heel, mind still reeling over Hope and Roman's potential whereabouts, Klaus sighed wearily and rubbed at his temples. "I beg of you," he added, grumbling.

"Time to warm up then, mister. For the good news is I've brought you a freshly brewed caramel latte from next door with a double shot of blood, (off the carotid the way you prefer), and whipped cream. Best coffee in three states," she said with a wink and a nudge, "or so I've been told. Let's try it together, shall we?"

Caroline waited ten seconds for a reaction.

When he offered nothing more than a distracted nod and a _thank you_ , she gently lowered his hand from his face and slid the to-go cup into it with a meaningful squeeze, letting her touch linger on his skin until his lashes lifted to her face. Waiting until he remembered she was there beside him. With him, all the way.

"Stop stewing, Klaus. We'll find her before it's too late."

"I hope so. I truly hope so, Caroline," he said while he scratched at the back of his neck. "If anything were to happen to her I'd - I'd never—"

"Don't think like that, okay? We know where they're headed and we'll find them. We will." She squeezed his wrist again. Harder this time. "Look at me."

His eyes were like two desperate hopeless pools when they met hers: deflated, but not yet defeated. They searched hers for the buoying strength he needed, for the light only she possessed.

"Nothing bad will happen to her. I'll do whatever I can; I'll kill anyone who tries to hurt her. I promise you," she said, her voice steady; reassuring.

Swallowing the apple in his throat, Klaus nodded. Then, after placing his hand on the small of her back, not resigned in any way but a little less tense now, he ushered them toward the front entrance of the building.

"In the meantime, we should both try to get some rest," he said. "I can't slaughter Roman as thoroughly as he deserves on two hours of sleep now, can I? Half-assed punishments aren't particularly my style, after all."

He cocked his eyebrow in threat, then eased himself into a smug grin. Caroline rolled her eyes, mumbling something about ' _rage-a-holic Dad nonsense_ ' as she strutted inside ahead of him.

"What room are you in, by the way?" he said as he regained his place by her side. "I'll escort you there safely before I dive into my pillowed revenge. As a gentleman, it's the least I can do."

"Umm, about my room," Caroline said with an uneasy clasp of her hands. She sucked in a breath, rocking toward him uncertainly. "Remember how I said I had good and bad news for you?"

"I do."

"Well..."

"Yes?" Klaus encouraged. "What is it?"

Eyes slamming shut, Caroline's nose scrunched and color flooded her cheeks as she brought them to an abrupt halt in front of an ornate fountain in the lobby. She gripped him by the elbow next, compressed her lips, exhaled and said,

"As it turns out, there's only one vacant room left in this hotel - with one double bed and no cots, to boot. Can you believe it?"

"Ah - I see. That is a problem, isn't it?"

"It all seems horribly inefficient and inconvenient for guests, right? But whatever! There's nothing anyone can do about it, apparently." Caroline gestured flippantly at the yawning concierge who was perched at the front desk. "Anyway, do you, um…do you understand what this means?" she asked.

"I believe so." Klaus clutched his hands behind his back. Took a step closer. "Tell me one thing, though?" he said, trying to disguise his bemused expression with a clearing of his throat.

"Fine. But only if you quit looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

She poked his chest in warning, albeit a little less scoldingly than normal, "Stop leering."

"As my lady commands," he said with a cheeky hum and a bow. "I'll try."

"Why is your mood so improved all of a sudden, anyway?"

"Oh, Caroline, Caroline," Klaus chuckled as they strode down the hallway, arm-in-arm, toward Room 12. Their joint destination for the evening. "Don't you see?"

She narrowed her eyes and said, "Obviously not. No."

"It's simple, sweetheart. I have glad tidings now. To speak plainer: I'm as pleased as can be," he shrugged.

"But that's—"

Turning as they entered the room, he leaned in with desire mounting, his mouth hovering only inches away from hers,

"Before you ask why," he said as his index finger quieted her next words, "it's because there is no world where I would consider you choosing to share a room with me, over you choosing not to compel a guest to vacate one instead, as bad news. I quite fancy your double shot of good, I think?"

"Yes," he smiled wide into her flustered face, the door closing behind them with a click, "yes, I surely do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are lovely.


	2. Behind Closed Doors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tension, tension, tension!

With only a hitch of breath and an index finger poised between them, the heat of honesty still burning from his eyes, Caroline stood before Klaus ruffled enough by his last declaration that she gaped back with no retort ready on her tongue, no reply. Her startled but unfaltering gaze made him wonder what would happen if he leaned forward to slink an arm around her waist right now. What would she do if he tangled his fingers in her shirt as he drew her against him, holding her tight? Holding her steady and close, hip-to-hip, the way he often dreamed he would when sleep eluded him late into the night. The same way he had fifteen years ago during their last awful and wrenching goodbye.

Their tethered proximity skipped Caroline's pulse from a trot into a gallop.

Klaus heard it like music - he felt it drum the way it always had beneath the surface of her ivory skin, calling out for him to show her the man clothed in monster she knew existed from the beginning; singing out for him to take another drink from her fountain of light. Starvation swelled harder with each beat, with each dwindling second passing them by, and he smelled it. All of that empty sawdust filled his nostrils whenever she moved or breathed because the same longing screamed from inside his own chafing blood vessels, and it worsened the longer he waited. And waited. And waited for her to reach out for him once more. So what if he didn't wait any longer?

What if he bent forward - right here, right now in front of this creaking-shut hotel door in Nowhere USA - to smother the tension with his lips? What if he unloaded all that he felt, but never would say, against her trembling mouth before this moment, too, slipped away?

Would a kiss be welcomed, or shunned? Could it be reciprocated, or considered inappropriate given their road trip circumstances? Could her mouth finally taste the truth tonight - in this stalled moment of desire and intimacy which was swinging between them - or did she need another few vampire decades under her belt yet in order to decide their fate?

"Cozy accommodations," Klaus gestured, breaking the muteness at last.

"Don't start."

" _Moi_? I don't know what you mean to imply, but I assure you…"

Caroline fixed him with a look as he trailed off with a chuckle, willfully ignoring his whole compulsion comment after the door closed behind them,"This was the only room available and there was nothing more I could do, alright? I told you that already," she said with her arms crossed, "or weren't you listening?"

"Oh, I heard you. There's no need to fret," he said, dimpling.

"Good. Great. Fantastic! Now that I've repeated myself a billion times for the impossible and infuriating of hearing," she adjusted her purse strap anxiously, flushing at the floor as she flicked lint from her jeans and moved toward the dresser, "then we're all settled."

"Right."

"Good."

"You said that already, too, love," Klaus pointed out. He strode to the window and closed the curtains, "Just in case you were wondering, or - should I say - still worried about my lack of attentiveness."

"I'm not. I mean, I—you know, wasn't." He smirked at her agitation, at her defensiveness. "But thanks for the clarification," she said flatly and frowned.

"I've no problem supplying you with clarity, Caroline, so please feel free to ask again in the future should confusion require it." Klaus paused long enough to recapture her eyes, "Anytime."

How much would she squirm at the sweep of his thumb on her cheek, he mused? Down her neck? Along the hem of her jeans?

How hard would Caroline tremble if he reached out to tuck a blonde lock behind her earlobe, his movements so soft and slow they'd be almost tantalizing? How long until she scolded herself for drifting too close to the edge of him again, her head bent forward, her lips parted and tingling with a question yet to be answered? How long until she pushed past or away from him next?

Minutes?

Seconds?

Without hesitation?

Klaus wondered at what moment her palms would press into his chest so she could wriggle herself loose; free, the distance between them expanding so fast it'd remind him that this was distance he didn't need. Not from her, anyway. Never from her.

The low pitch of his voice coupled with the unflinching intensity of his stare made Caroline halt in front of the mirror for a moment, but she recovered quickly. Turning with a hand on her hip, she arched a brow at him,

"Look," she said, "I know it might be a bit of a stretch for you and all, but I'd appreciate it if you at least tried to avoid going all Clark Gable, It-Happened-One-Night on me. It's unnecessary."

"Noted."

"And obnoxious."

"Okay."

"And did I mention annoying as hell?" she added pertly.

"My apologies," Klaus said. His tone implied the opposite, however, and Caroline wasn't fooled. She only shook her head and sighed. "I take it you're not an old Hollywood fan then? Shame, really."

"Klaus."

"I do recall a Grace Kelly reference from you once, though, if I'm not mistaken?"

"Klaus," she repeated again, more in plea than in reproach.

"What? I only ask because - well, there's only one blanket in this dilapidated little hotel room, see," Klaus said motioning with wide exaggeration at the bed, "and since it's quite frigid, I'd hate to waste it like Gable and Colbert did by hanging it between us and have you freeze all night. I suppose pillows could act as a barrier instead, or if you like I—"

"We'll make do." Caroline said, waving him off as she shrugged out of her coat. "Alright?"

"Fine with me. However, if you're uncomfortable with the arrangement, I'll gladly sleep on the—"

"Stop." She cut him off for a second time with a raised hand, rolling her eyes. She scratched her nails through her hair as she kicked off her shoes near the edge of the bed, then sat down.

"We both need a good night's sleep. It's important for me to recharge," she said as she stifled a yawn, "and for you to curb your sever-and-quarter Roman urges before we set off in search of him and Hope tomorrow. To accomplish that, we'll share the bed and the blanket like adults do. Equal halves and everything. Like, you know…"

"The movie I mentioned?"

"No, genius," Caroline said, visibly frustrated. "Like friends."

"Will we now? Like friends."

"Yes."

Klaus rolled the phrase over on his tongue, "Like friends," he drawled with a pleasant hum, "like friends…"

"Does that bother you? Is this a problem or something?"

"No." Dropping into the open place beside her on the mattress, hands clasped in his lap, he turned toward her with his head tilted and his voice honeyed into a rumble of syllables against her ear, "Not for me."

"Good. That's good," she repeated for the third and fourth time, then blushed when she discerned his amusement. "Then I'm…um," she gulped as the bed shifted beneath her, his hand inching closer, long fingers drifting to rest atop her knee, "I'm glad we're on the same page now, you and I."

Tilting his head to the side, acute in his appraisal of Caroline's reaction to his touch, waiting for her to push off or away from him again, Klaus could detect no contempt in her expression. No twitch or jerk to flee, either. There was nothing except that unsettled thumping _something_ between them: a tug which had subsisted despite all the odds, despite all the years and miles they'd spent apart.

And although this long-standing "thing" between them wasn't settled with a kiss in the shadow of the closed door, and while there was no reunion of lips as they snuggled together beneath their shared blanket later that night, either, he figured a welcomed touch from her was one hell of a place to begin.

"So am I, love," he said as he drew circles on her kneecap with his thumb, and smiled. "So am I."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are lovely.


	3. In The Stillness of the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bed sharing and pillow talk.

Klaus kicked a foot free of the sheets. He rested it atop the comforter and exposed his pant leg to the knee as Caroline reached up to extinguish the lamp. Dousing the room around them into comfortable darkness, and privacy.

After a shower, a phone update from Freya, some takeout with a side of Runaway Daughter strategy, a cheap bottle of wine from the convenience store down the road, three episodes of _Game of Thrones_ on the TV, and an argument that sprouted over who loved the left side of the bed more (which Klaus won - but barely - by declaring that “ _old sleeping habits only ripen with age, sweetheart, and I doubt you want me accidentally invading your space whilst we sleep_ ”), the two of them had settled into bed for the night (he on the left, she on the right) with nothing more than a blanket and too much history between them.

However, as they lay down face-to-face, pillow-touching-pillow, a gentle kind of trust and contentment descended. Draping over them both like a blanket that tickled their nerves clear through to their toes. Freeing them of the awkwardness, but not the fluttering tension, they might’ve endured in this scenario years ago because their connection was no longer frightening. It was no longer unbreachable, or avoided for ‘reasons’—

And neither was he.

This borrowed bed, with this Hybrid mastermind tucked inside of it only inches away, felt familiar to Caroline in a way that was warm. Plush. Cozy. Safe. And promising. Which, ironically, were all things she needed but weren’t those she believed she’d experience with a man like him, or with any man at all. Ever. And sure as hell not all at once…after years of supernatural plots, enemies, teaching, magical kids, and widowed dreams.

It was a natural and comforting feeling, though, the weight of Klaus beside her, the smell of his damp curls and cologne-soaked skin so close she could almost taste it. So close she could almost taste him again.

He was daunting in all his Henly-wearing, sweat-pantsed glory, though. Like resin she couldn’t rinse from her heightened senses.

He was shiver-eliciting in ways Caroline once refused to acknowledge, but now couldn’t help but see and admire clearly. No longer afraid of what that revealed about her, or what it meant about them someday.

Like a rock against her side, Klaus was sturdy and smooth.

Propped on one elbow, his wisdom peaked out from the stubble of his jaw, dark and worn against his fair ageless cheek, as he placed the remote on the nightstand. Wit battling with tact each time he glanced back to chat with her in those low, drawled British tones. Assurance mixed with calculation creased his forehead, too. Just above the eyebrows. It gave him a cheshire cat aspect sometimes when he was determined to be appeased or knew he was right, which occurred at regular intervals throughout their acquaintanceship, but not constantly by any means. Vulnerability marked the lines of his form if one knew where to look, after all.

And Caroline did.

Around the eyes, across gripped-white knuckles, behind twitching muscles and hardly audible sighs, between long stretches of unblinking silence: these were the places she located Klaus’ fears and feelings of inadequacy. It was also where his deepest desires hid in plain sight.

Entranced, her interest piqued, she never could help but analyze everything about him she could glean.

For instance, although he never moved or flinched nearer since they lay down, Klaus regarded the small distance between their bodies so softly, so acutely, that Caroline wondered why he never tried to make it disappear, eradicating the gap between them completely. It would’ve been easy for him to accomplish. Simpler than a reach-and-scoot; faster than the time it’d take for her to decline. It wouldn’t have taken long at all for him to swallow her like a giant spoon coming for the light of the moon.

There was something about how his smile spread to stretch across his lips gradually, gingerly, however; curling upwards to melt the shadows of his face into gold because their companionable vicinity was like champagne to him - not necessarily his first choice, but worth every fizzy sip she offered - which told Caroline he’d drink up the barest drop of hope he could find in her. It reminded her, again, how he was the kind of man who not only waited with relish, but stuck to his vows with purpose that never strayed.

Klaus owned a patient heart. And his had stayed with her, it seemed.

The fact that he refrained from touching her again, particularly when their pinkies hovered mere centimeters apart under the covers, was evidence of this. It not only showed great restraint on his part, but greater disappointment and regret on hers. Though she wasn’t sure why? Not at first, anyway.

As it happened, Klaus and Caroline were stiff from travel, emotionally drained, and drowsy - but not drowsy enough to keep from thinking in silence, apparently. Or from staring. A lot.

Eyes met eyes like magnets. Or like boomerangs which had finally circled back around to an inevitable destination.

Their locked gaze became unobtrusive in its intimate fragility because serenity gusted over them like beams of moonlight from the window. Trickling in with milky whites to shoo away the demons they each carried in their heads that rattled bones of insecurity and doubt. Rankling them together in acceptance of this one moment, of this one shared night.

Bad timing, obstacles, and awaiting problems and responsibilities seemed to diminish the further they snuggled into their pillows. The world around them shrinking and shrinking and shrinking until it left them alone together in silhouette, no more than two. Just her and him.

The dimness heavy’d their yawns in such a manner that Caroline knew it wouldn’t be long before their tired lashes fell to rest against their cheeks as the hum of the heater lulled them into the quiet after _goodnight_ ; especially, now, since the pitch of their voices was diminishing to that of a whisper and slurred syllables already. For the only reason conversation held out at all was because, despite the lateness of the hour, neither one of them wished to be the first victim to surrender to sleep.

“I don’t need to worry about any Edward Cullen-type surprises from you tonight, right?” Caroline said as she slipped her right hand, flat, under her cheek, to nestle against the mattress.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Well? Do I? You are an Original.”

Klaus scratched at his chin, chuckling, “I believe I don’t quite follow your question, love. Can you rephrase it for me, by chance?”

“Just tell me if you have any other weird Original-exclusive abilities. I think I deserve to be made aware of them all before it’s too late, don’t you?”

“Before it’s too late?” he said.

“Yes.”

“Too late for what? For me to read your thoughts, to convince you bunny blood will never fill you up? Specificity would be helpful here, I think.”

“Oh, please,” Caroline rolled her eyes. “Don’t be daft. Not only do I not adhere to the bunny diet, but you of all people aren’t telepathic. Like…at all.”

“Not since I met you, that’s for bloody certain.”

She frowned at this but said nothing. Klaus rubbed at the corners of his eyes then peered at her sagely as he plopped his chin in his palm, and sighed,

“Listen, if you mean to ask if I sparkle in the darkness after midnight, then the answer is no. I do not. I prefer to turn my diamond-glow off whenever I’m in shared sleeping quarters, you see, so as not to appear overindulgent, inconsiderate, or rude. I assume you know I would do this for you of all people? Clearly,” he added with a sweeping gesture at his perfectly unlit skin and the clock behind him, which read 1:02 A.M., as if this facetious remark explained everything.

“You’re ridiculous,” Caroline replied with a snort. “Are you always like this?”

“Rarely.”

She _humphed_.

“So, what, I’m the exception then? I bring it out in you in full-force or something?”

He shrugged. Letting her think whatever she wished. “Ridiculous questions deserve ridiculous answers, sweetheart.”

“I only wanted to know if you’ll be able to sleep tonight, that’s all,” Caroline said drily.

“Ah.”

“Is that so terrible?”

“No. That’s, uh - it’s actually…” Struggling for purchase, Klaus flipped onto his stomach and crossed his forearms under his chin so he could blink at the headboard. “Why couldn’t you have asked me that to start, Caroline? You and I are above these silly pretenses. We always were,” he said, side-eyeing her softly.

“I know I just—” she exhaled sharply, “You have a lot on your mind with Hope, your family, New Orleans, and you’re sifting through many questions and frustrations with magical complications, and I…well, I didn’t want to provoke you into a discussion about anything unless you wanted to share your thoughts with me. That’d be—and I’d never want to make you feel, you know…”

“You’re cute when you’re ruffled,” Klaus cut in.

Caroline skirted past the unexpected flattery, but not without pausing to blush at him first. “Anyway, the point is I’m here for you. I’ve got your back either way, whatever happens.”

“You’re—but I’m so—?” His voice was thick. “Thank you,” he choked out.

“I mean, I’m not afraid to kick you in the ass when occasion requires it, but I also know when it’s wrong or inappropriate to prod. So, yeah,” she puckered her cheeks, “I figured it’d be easier to warn you about what’ll happen if I catch you watching me sleep like Cullen instead.”

“Which is…?” he said with a quick change of tone and subject.

Caroline’s lips twitched upwards, broadening into a smile as she tilted her head to consider him, “I’ll freak.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep,” she said with an overemphasized pop of the ‘ _p_.’ “And I’ll retaliate in ways you can’t imagine, mister.”

“That sounds serious, indeed.”

She nodded, jostling her elbow at him, “I am part monster, you know,” she winked.

“Well, then,” he drawled and cracked his knuckles, “I suppose it’s too bad I left my Caroline Forbes handbook packed in my suitcase, now, isn’t it? Or I’d jot this detail down straight away for safe keeping.”

“I think you can remember it.” _You remember everything else_ , she wanted to say but didn’t.

“Perhaps,” Klaus acquiesced. “That said, I find there are no incentives worthwhile enough for me to try at present, do you? And I’m a man who needs motivation. Besides,” he tapped his index finger against his lips, leaning in with a devilish glint, “to stop me you’d have to gouge out my eyeballs. So go on,” he smirked in challenge, “I’d love to see you try.”

He grinned at Caroline’s reaction: a sharp intake of breath followed by a rustle of covers, a playful shove, a squeal, a pillow to his face, and an ‘ _Oh my God, you are such a freaking creeeep! I can’t believe you said that_.’

They rolled and tousled for some minutes afterwards, their separate sides long forgotten. Giggling all the while. Klaus repeatedly (and unsurprisingly) allowed himself to be pinned to the mattress by her knees, which she used to her advantage at long last by securing his wrists against the headboard then pressing her forehead against his until he froze, the sea of his irises flecking with gold waves as he became prey instead of predator. And happily so. That’s when she threatened to compel herself her own private town to sleep in if he couldn’t promise to keep his eyes closed til morning, or to at least try.

Klaus relented without too much protest after that.

When Caroline lauded her easy success as they curled back beneath the covers, however, he told her it was because he’d hate for her to be lonely. “You deserve better than that,” he added as he reached to pull the sheet over her shoulder. Fingers ghosting over her bare skin.

Something about the way he said it - flat with no sarcasm, no hesitation; pointed in sincerity but also reflective in a way that scratched at rawness in his throat - twisted knots in her belly so hard she could barely breathe. Or speak. Or do anything except reel, astounded and gawking. To know that Klaus distinguished between “alone” and “lonely” so profusely, the fact that he considered how those things affected a person in big or small ways, touched Caroline’s heart almost as much as it saddened it. For how long had he felt this way, himself, over the centuries? How often in her young, ageless life already had she?

A keen pang fluttered in her chest at this: revealing another thumping tether of similarity.

Then, before she realized it, one of her hands had slipped out from under her head of its own volition and reached forward to palm his cheek. Tenderness bursting toward him in a rapid rippling stream,

“So do you,” Caroline said like the coo of a dove, “so do you.” Her fingertips trailed circles along his jaw, lingering by the corner of his mouth only to drop against his forearm with a pinch after a moment. “Now get some sleep. You’re old as dirt and probably need more under-eye concealer in the morning than I do.”

“After you, love. Ladies first and all that,” Klaus smiled.

“Creep,” she breathed in reply.

Caroline shut her eyes and listened to the symphonic _thud thud_ of his heartbeat after that. Too cozy to remove her arm from where it clutched his in caress. He didn’t seem to mind. And when she stirred a few hours later, cradled against his chest on the left side of the bed, breaking her own rule to study the smoothness of his closed eyelids, to map the constellations of freckles on his neck; plucking at her own curiosities about his soft defenselessness and longevity in the stillness of the dark while he slept, she found neither did she.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This last part in particular made me super emotional (and I almost hate myself for it lol), but I had a blast crafting this little road-trippin', room-sharing AU for Klaroline. Full of all the fluff and feels they deserve!
> 
> Thoughts? Comments are my favorite thing. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. Thanks so much for reading!
> 
> xx Ashlee Bree

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are lovely.


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